Electrosonic has won the ISG Sustainability Award for 2010, an award that is open to all of ISG’s platinum contractors. ISG (Interior Services Group UK plc) delivers fit out, construction and management services, and operates throughout the UK, Europe, Middle East and Asia. ISG recognised excellence in their supply chain’s performance at the company’s annual Platinum Trade Contractor Awards at which senior sales consultant Christian Bozeat (pictured left) accepted the award from ISG managing director Darren Hill (pictured, right) on behalf of Electrosonic.

Lucy Hall, head of sustainability at ISG, said: “We were very impressed with Electrosonic’s award submission, particularly with its management systems, developed in 2008, for monitoring environmental impacts ranging from carbon to waste and water. Electrosonic has set itself impressive targets for the coming year and we fully support their efforts in achieving these.”

“When we first started to implement our environmental programme, we had anticipated taking on significant extra cost overheads,” said Robert Webb, environmental manager at Electrosonic. “Once we put the systems in place however, our experience has proved that the "green" approach can be virtually cost-neutral overall.”

Electrosonic achieved ISO 14001 accreditation in 2008, and says that it has reduced the impact of its business operations on the environment with initiatives from company-wide procurement policies to a zero waste to landfill target.

At Electrosonic’s European headquarters in Dartford, environmental management systems are in place: plastics, paper, cardboard and metals are all separated, and used hazardous electronic waste from project sites are safely processed. Water consumption has been reduced by over 33% between 2008 and 2009.

In-house policies remind staff to avoid unnecessary printing, specify use of 100% recycled paper, and recycle waste paper. Total waste paper decreased by 30% between 2008 and 2009. No waste has been sent to landfill in 2010, as non-recyclables are sent for energy recovery.

Energy-saving measures include: control sensors that switch off lights in vacant rooms, a choice of hybrid company cars, of which 20 are already in service, and use of videoconferencing for in-house international meetings in place of business travel. All contribute to a reduction in the CO2 footprint of Electrosonic’s operations, with annual average energy consumption falling by 6% between 2008 and 2009, with similar savings forecast for 2010.www.electrosonic.com